Patriots not ready to turn in jerseys

Coaches have many ways of motivating their teams. Patrick Henry’s Robert Fields came up with a pretty graphic display at halftime of Wednesday’s San Diego Section Division I game against visiting Granite Hills.

Even though his Patriots were leading 34-31 at the break, he wasn’t pleased. So he put a big box in the middle of the floor.

“I asked my players if they wanted to throw their jerseys in the box and call it a season, or did they want to go back out on the floor and play the way they know how,” Fields said.

The fourth-seeded Patriots (16-13) scored the first 11 points of the third quarter and continued on for a 78-56 victory over the Eagles (13-14).

“We’re a second-half team,” said senior Jacob Sherman, who scored a game-high 30 points for Patrick Henry. “We come into every game thinking we’re gonna dominate, but for some reason that usually doesn’t come until the second half.”

Sherman attacked the Eagles from the baseline, hitting 14 of 17 shots from the field. He put up one 3-pointer as well.

The taller Patriots dominated the boards 33-19. In the second half, Granite Hills was limited to one shot on most of its possessions.

“We wanted to show that we belong where we are — that we’re better than our record,” said Patriots senior Oren Gibboney.